It’s one thing to say I like the company I work at. Or even to say “I love my job. I love working here.”
And it’s typically really incredible as a customer when you work with a representative of a company that is really long term committed “to the cause.” You can tell right away when that happens. “You are in good hands” as All State says.
Getting a tattoo of the company logo takes it to a whole really cool level.
And today we (Team Drexel) announce our first (hopefully more on the way!) team members so into it, that they put in into their skin.
Ryan Stone one of our finest flooring specialist just got one. And it looks awesome. You bet Drexel foot the bill, and if any one else ever wants one we will do it gladly again! Ryan has been with our company for less than two years but has really been “true blue.” His client base is growing daily ,his co- team members rave about him, and he is just one of those “neat guys” in the world. Ryan has a passion for the Duke Blue Devils and loves coaching soccer, enjoys his dogs, and loves good motivational quotes.
Thanks Ryan, this was a really special cool thing. And made my day!
In his honor, here are some recent quotes I came across.
“Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.” – Dan Gable
“A good team should always be striving to become a GREAT team.”
“The secret to winning is constant, consistent management.”– Tom Landry
“Dream big. Work hard. Stay humble.”
“Good ideas have no value because the world already has too many.The market rewards execution,not ideas. Concentrate on ideas you can execute.” – Buzz Williams
“Enabled players kill a culture of accountability. Great players want to be coached hard.”
Drexel for Life
– – Joel Fleischman. Joel is the president & solution provider for Drexel Building Supply. (drexelteam.com). You can follow him on twitter: @JoelmFleischman. He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.
Sept 26- 2013
(On a train bound to nowhere… um back from Chicago to Milwaukee)
For the last two days I spent my time at a convention in Chicago put on by Hanley Wood for the marketing leaders for manufacturers of building supplies. Here is what I learned and my thoughts there.
It was called Future Forward, Hanley Wood 2013 foundations. #hwfoundations for you twitter freaks, more on that later!
If you are still reading this…you must be in the trades. And welcome!
First, thank you for Pro Sales and Hanley Wood asking me to be on a panel discussion group. They paid for my stay at the Ritz-Carlton as well as a round trip train ticket. Man, I love the train. Get a ton of work done, relax. The ONLY way to travel Mke to Chi in my opinion!
Ok, on to the goods.
The first two speakers were economists and strategists and they focus on the numbers and data of the United States building economy.
Here’s the stats you need to know:
Building index up 11 of 12 months
Increased activity for 6 consecutive quarters
Phoenix is hot.
Good lots are hard to find. The “surplus” of lots is misleading. Good lots are going, going, GONE, in most markets.
Mortgage rates will stay historically low, and even if they go up they will not effect the market until it hits over 12%! That’s splendid news.
Housing recovery is still in its infancy a lot of growth is COMING!
Here’s a good quote/joke and funny: THE MARKET IS SO BAD I CANT SLEEP AT NIGHT, I SLEEP LIKE A BABY I WAKE UP EVERY 2 HOURS AND CRY!
2014 best year since 2007, total spending perspective (residential spending)
2011, spending on construction, falling more than 1/2
Remodeling bigger than new construction
2014 forecasting stronger than this … a year to two year… to surpass…
maintenance sector is growing, and new con finding gas
New home prices up 22%.
Investors helped get rid of homes… % of investor buying slowing so remodeling coming back up.
12%of those surveyed believe we need to be worried about mortgage rates according to hanley wood!
life drives housing NOT the fed
51% change in household size
39% favorable interest rates, gone up prior to this ?
31% simply tired of current home, best indicator of pent up demand 22% said increase in income
NOT your median person
Gen y, rental market strong. gen yers expecting rent to go up 4.2% , they don’t care, they love it and will continue to rent are they planiing to rent or buy? looking to staying rent. they don’t expect to change
24% of the future new home demand is baby boomers, 24%!
baby boomers…
plunking down a lot of cash! active adult community. 75% cash up to all ca$h.
bougie– new catch phrase (what?)
anything upscale, latte instead of coffee it’s so bougie much more upscale buyer
#bougie
quality is #1 issue when building ! QUALITY, materials significant!
get lucky
share of the largest builders in the country is growing
responsible for over 1/2 of the homes builders
200 largest builders to the 60%! woah.
more for land, means most expensive homes. since land is more, house has to be more.
cost material labor has not kept pace, builders are more profitable.
dealer economic look out. 68% market would be up. 2013 would 81% up up 24%, 83% up over 10%.
location matters… above average madison HOT our market orange (2nd best)
red hot in our areas!
1 mil can’t hold us!
1.16 mil starts 23%
538 new home sales 22%
remodels 7%
600bil 31%
Thank you!
data insights
brad hunter, jonathan spoke
what inning are we in…
better metaphor, a indy race.
2012-13 straightaway
hairpin turn
a skill driver knows to brake during the turn how you manage in the turn will be how you come out
15-20% in a year for home prices cost… fast!
Going to slow next year, competition from more affordable existing homes
Affordabilty WILL suffer
Real up turn in mortgage rate
Entry level, banks loosening up, but down payments coming low (school debt big factor) new kind of g.i. financing…generous in laws
Buying a bigger house now than last time around. Despite all what is happening hasn’t effected volume or home prices…
the haves or our society.
entry level is MISSING yet… kb homes sales are down…because they sell to entry level buyer and home prices up 22%. whew.
how do they deal with mortage rates that are invetible. will they pay less for home? sure…but really what they will rely on …drive til you qualify….
lack of development loans, lot shortages will resolve as funds become available
private builders going public or being acquired. more public builders
the fed has spoken!
the punchbowl is being topped off again, they will not be reducing purchase of bonds. the feds going to taper… no taper. seems like they decided they are too addicted to the financing of America.
Inventories are very very tight in many parts of the country
don’t want to go to 2005 levels. sensible level. 1.5 or 1.6 starts maybe 3 years away
Supply vacant new homes industry spiking. supply was too high.
leading indicator…. was supply
lot supply…. coming down and in fact, lot shortages. 100 months of supply to 45 months supply.
running out of lots…having to buy lots back to peak prices… in some parts of the country
a and b sub markets, lot shortage… most of the supply is spoken for in some markets
lots are being developed. 161k lots to be built, down from a peak of 1mil in 2006. future lot count is 700k
where is it occuring …texas booming phoenix booming.. reno is dead, worst
where is the market headed in 2014?
#hwfoundations2013
2/3 of clients think up only 14% look at slow down
builders
luxury homes going up up up
kitchen big opportunity, than bath
architects really got their butt kicked
decidedly they are more optimistic, building index on arch is up 11 consecutive months
more optimistic is office stuff, bread and butter. 28-34% up ward trends
31% of people want to buy a house, tired of house in, means they delayed gratification, means they will REMODEL
sense that homeowners delayed doing something happier place for their family ready to move ahead
2014. residential remodeling, see the big JUMP in custom housing.
small dealers still go to local banks. those banks were regulatory backed away. beginning to rebound, architects are aware of that.
bldg product manufacturer= dealer. contractors architects and builders and contractors every day. optimistic. busy again. busy getting busier. dealers beginning to create inventory again,
200 top builders in the us, 60% of the activity of the usa. 60% closing this year was of the 200 builders.
Big opportunity, double anything else, WINDOWS!
best housing markets, fl, salt lake city, phx, sc, al, dc, nc, co, tx, az (hot!)
HOUSING RECESSION IS OVER AND IT’S GONNA GET BETTER OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS
pain is a stressor. numbers may go 22% up in starts in 2014. D E F E N S E.
ADD LABOR! PAIN, DISORDER AND UNCERTAINTY, pain points into opportunities into solutions.
*** social media ***
Day 2. Worked out, had some coffee, you know the usual hotel routine. Didn’t find a wing man the night before, in bed by 10.
@cryswashington gave a really high energy, informative, presentation on how to use social media.
b2c
emotional ties
b2b
expert insight
How can my brand connect with key decision makers in this space each network has a culture linked in business facebook, community, emotional Triggers, most social of social facebook is to build relationships with people twitter culture is real time information and adding value. Youtube feeds the other social networks, connect with things that are visual VIDEO IS KING FOR CONTENT
1. gather intellegince
* sales research
* listening
2. get found
* keywords
* profiles
3. compliment trade show/magazine ads/purchased media
“filetype search…. xls” home builder association filetype:.xls
go to linked in and ask for introduction via email.
32-49 year olds lives on email.
linkedin message, gen y. social media platforms.
baby boomers gonna have to call em.
use technology to be more efficient, not less
facebook graph or email on google, find their phone number
if you know there first and last name
“joel fleischman” “*@drexelteam.com ”
LISTENING
active listening campaigns on social media
actively listen to thank people!!! – USE YOUR PERSONAL NAME WHEN USING YOUR BUSINESS FACEBOOK PAGE, ADD THAT TOUCH! (thanks for the message about your windows. – Joel)
GATHER INTELLIGENCE
social media GET FOUND, low hanging fruit. SHOW UP
concept of key words, linked in runs of key words as well
wonderful to build BACK TO WEBSITE, that’s the hub.
like sending a limo to going to website for a shack.
form partnerships as well.
post testimonials… from contractors MOST EFFECTIVE
installers! installers! installers! ultra lightweight all purpose
joint compound for examples
don’t get caught up in the numbers
b2b numbers smaller, that is ok…
testimonial booth at the expo… ???….!!!!
build and reinforce brand
attach your name. as you post. a really good connection, listen, thanks and use your first name.
measure results
how to do it. SEND MONTHLY SNAP SHOT comments, shares…wonderful and a guage, not sales click throughs, coming from facebook and twitter, etc!
mirror pages, promo or something
promotion redemption
email list growth, track it. own the data.
SALES
leads that turn into sales, track it, track it, track it. in house sales, pretty simple, to do spreadsheet on metrics!
****
taylor made golf guy…. the CEO Mark KING OF GREEN BAY! was next on
sales enablement
good company in future, new bright smart talent and keep it.
when you are trying to move your organization, what gets in way of success, difference speed of which it is changing. managing a business, uncertainty makes it more difficult, lots of pressure.
what is driving successful companies today: CREATIVITY he says the world will never look like it did before.
13 years incredible journey
revenue went up, what did they do to break thru???
fall of 199, he is given the job, parent company adidas i need a 3 year strategic business plan they told him.
300 mil losing money by 2002 we will be in the black. not good enough1
if the leaders of the company say it’s ok to be mediocre, who are we to be.
he said why don’t we become the best performance golf brand in the world.
an environment wants to work in our company… that’s a lot sexier plan
double size of company and be profitable
story 2 reasons:
a lot of it happened. we wouldn’t of done it. gosh, we are going to be great. people starting to be excited about thinking about doing things if you want to drive creativity into your organization. create a gap between aspiration and resource.
CREATE A GAP BETWEEN ASPIRATION AND RESOURCE.
from that gap comes all of that new thinking, trying to push the envelope.
any company should not be afraid to aspire to do great things. mark king
“not gonna work” …. “my bat. my ball. my game.”
change the rules of the game
i really think that every industry is waiting to be reinvented. how do i do better, faster, and less expensive.
if you don’t do it differently you are not going to succeed.
stuck at 700mil… so then what, how did they stay on top…
most leaders face this all the time. that’s why you see them rise and fall…
he said the reason the speed of change in market place. legacy systems, if it’s not always in transformative state, going to lose its space.
vision strategy from the top, then execute. great way to control, NOT COOL.
flexibility and speed and new thinking!
DISTRIBUTE LEADERSHIP
where every team member takes control of creating the future. it’s my job to make the company better.
really a difference of command and control. tip it upside down.
THINK! THINK! THINK!
EVERY FRIDAY MORNING, category managers come in.
instead of painting metal with black why don’t we paint them white.
i said, because bill has really stupid ideas.
market share went from 35 to 52% with one decision.
without his ability to raise hand it never would of happened…
BETTER CHEAPER FASTER AND MORE FUN
2014 GOAL- DREXEL BUILDING SUPPLY
Innovation can come anywhere…it doesn’t have to be technology!
Don’t accept follow the gender trend. break thru.
Find your white paint. (Taylor Made’s white drivers.) You find it by asking more people to think about it!
think about things … think!
if you want to grow your business,,, there are only 2 ways, steal market share or come up with something different or follow trend.
great companies ARE GREAT because the people that work there are inspired to do great things. #GOOSEBUMPS
unleash the potential!
cant’ be done… do it!
i truly believe… EXTRORDINARY THINGS HAPPEN because leaders have the courage to do it. willing to create a new lense.
distribute leadership, their ideas not your ideas. and takes courage.
He was told by her oldest daughter an over achiever:
Our greatest fear is that we are powerful to beyond measure.
success of the month. an online show and bring people in every month.
huge online social network, start an idea and join in…
more touring professionals play our equip than the other 5 combined.
john daly, i love her a little bit more than i hate her.
take risks, push the envelope. we don’t penalize failure.
That’s the random notes. Thanks for sticking with me.
– – Joel Fleischman. Joel is the president & solution provider for Drexel Building Supply. (drexelteam.com). You can follow him on twitter: @JoelmFleischman. He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.
In a world that loves to focus on the fruit we must remember that it is the root that produces the fruit.
Nurture the root, get great fruit!
Build that relationship. Every positive touch is a coin in a bucket, every negative interaction is a loss… and in time doing nothing is just as bad, the coins will fall out..
Take the time to put coins in the relationship bucket of your co-workers and customers, and your family and friends. Who’s bucket can you fill today?
Today. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today.
Time’s ticking, you will have one less day on this planet when you close your eyes tonight… how will you be remembered?
With filled buckets of love with all those you touched…or something else.
TODAY. NOW. FILL THAT BUCKET. grow those roots…
– – Joel Fleischman. Joel is the president & solution provider for Drexel Building Supply. (drexelteam.com). You can follow him on twitter: @JoelmFleischman. He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.
John Wooden has said he modeled his career (coaching college basketball better than anyone ever has and teaching English at UCLA) by following and teaching 3 simple rules that could not be broken.
1. Never be late.
2. Clean and neat.
3. No profanity.
It’s all here in his speech.
1. Be On Time.
Nick Saban a few weeks ago nailed it at the SEC media day. It’s all about trust. Many people blow this off and think it is trivial when it is just the opposite; it is fundamental to a culture of trust. And it SAVES a ton of time. Agenda based, on time meetings, get 47% more done. (I made that up.) But they do.
Here is the coach of Alabama football speaking on this. You can replace huddle and team for your own organization.
2. Be Neat & Clean.
This is a respect thing. By dressing well you are respecting your profession, your co-workers and your customers. Dress one level above your customer for best results. You don’t want your customer to think “you are better then them.” Think of the most respected people you know or work with. Are they neat and clean? I will bet they are.
3. No Profanity.
This is a tough one for me, especially on the golf course. I had to consider why this was such a big deal. I mean doesn’t coach Ditka and those types of folks earn respect by using a little foul language. And then I thought about it more. When someone I respect drops profanity, often I adjust my seat, or smile uncomfortably.
And often I do lose respect. Really, there is no need for it. You never know the effect it will have on others.
The best leaders, really the best people in life, are calm when there is a storm. Running around swearing like Foghorn Leghorn gets nothing done and does make you look like a cartoon character. So don’t do it.
Keep things simple and follow simple steps to improve; sometimes it is really that easy.
– – Joel Fleischman. Joel is the president & solution provider for Drexel Building Supply. (drexelteam.com). You can follow him on twitter: @JoelmFleischman. He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.
Inspired by the Mike Matheny manifesto I sent my parents a mini one after a few bitter losses (66-8 in three games). It’s a smaller version, not as intense, we are a 8-10 midget team, not an inspiring little league traveling team or anything.
Did it work? We have played two games since and won one, and actually the team threw a no hitter in that one. The parents have been AWESOME, and were on the verge of being a mutiny before. Also, the kids run in from the outfield now like I am holding the keys to the Willie Wonka factory.
I share this with the world because…if I can help one coach or one parent or one kid, I have done my job! Feel free to copy and paste or tweak as if your own if you are in need of one of these. Works for any sport. With any kids.
Pictured: My dad, two of my nephews, and my two kids. Grandpa passed down his lack of ball skills to me and then these youth. But he also passed down the traits to try hard and have fun. I say, that’s a win every time!
Here it is…
Team,
A little info on the team…from me the assistant to the assistant coach… (am I not even worthy of that title!- I am no baseball genius.)
Only 18 days left and baseball is over.
We have a great bunch of kids. They never get down on each other, are supportive of each other, and are having fun. They try really hard. My favorite moment of the year so far is when Nick got a double (ok, a 2 base error some would say) when we were down 16-0 last game. Those kids cheered like it was a walk off homer for Nick. Cool stuff.
They have fun and are learning more every chance we get to teach them. Why are we losing games? It’s not because they don’t care or try hard. They put a ton of pressure on themselves to succeed. We had 4 players get emotional in the dugout just last game. Sometimes bad things happen to good kids. “It’s not how many times you get knocked down; it’s how many times you get back up.”
Hopefully they win the rest of their games, we are trying to win, but we can’t always control that. Some teams are older, some have played in quite a few tourneys– but heck we will try hard and have fun to beat em. Trying hard and having fun are two things we can control. No doubt these players will do just that. Hopefully the teams we play will say, “those kids and those parents were having so much fun, I wonder what is wrong with them!” 😉
You all know baseball is a mentally tough sport. A lot going on. These players got so many thoughts in their heads. As for me, I try to keep them to a few thoughts and make sure I see em smile- I often have to remind them of that.
During practice and when they are on the bench we try to give them instructions on the game of baseball, Coach Chad and Coach Jim are really good at that.
Of course we only have 3 practices left and just a few games left; these 8, 9, and 10 year olds will make a bunch of mistakes. That I guarantee. And I know, I wil make some mistakes as a coach too. Not that we want to, but we will.
I have observed Coach Chad and Coach Jim do a fantastic job of teaching them baseball, these dudes are smart guys, but it’s hard to teach them all the nuances of the game in a few short weeks together, those 90 minute practices go so quick!
Hopefully these last few weeks will continue to be a fun and learning experience for the kids and the players and you the parents.
I’ve enjoyed spending a little time with each of them, you all should be proud of the little dudes you are raising.
Go K-town White! Go Team! Thanks for every thing you do as parents, hope to see you Sunday night at practice!
– – Joel Fleischman. Joel is the president & solution provider for Drexel Building Supply. (drexelteam.com). You can follow him on twitter: @JoelmFleischman. He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.
I have self-diagnosed Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. I completely EMBRACE this. Meaning, I hold multiple conversations at once. Do 100 tasks at a time. And let my brain zoom. I’ve hired people that take care of the stuff I won’t. Not that I can’t but I won’t. Because I embrace who I am and my passion.
Embrace your passion. People listen to others, try to fit in, and hell don’t embrace their inner passions. If you like garden. Garden like a mother fer. Teach people to garden. Have the slickest yard on the block. If you like to paint your face. Paint your damn face.
Yolo, and all that sh!t. It’s real people. You only got one shot at this, and if you are good at something, get better. If you want to be good at something do it.
And remember, in proverbs in the Good Book it states. Iron sharpens iron. Man sharpens man. So yearn for your passions and find those around you that can sharpen your iron and you sharpen yours.
Here is the song.
Sail. By Awolnation. Some would say this song is about giving up. Or an excuse. I feel he is sailing to greater heights. Or he wishes he was different. I think it is about embracing who you are. No matter what.
Here’s the lyrics. There’s not much to it. Which in itself makes sense. Keep it simple.
Sail!
This is how I show my love
I made it in my mind because
I blame it on my A.D.D. baby
This is how an angel dies
I blame it on my own sick pride
Blame it on my A.D.D. baby
Sail!
Maybe I should cry for help
Maybe I should kill myself (myself)
Blame it on my A.D.D. baby
Maybe I’m a different breed
Maybe I’m not listening
So blame it on my A.D.D. baby
Sail!
La la la la la
La la la la la oh!
La la la la la,
La la la la la oh!
La la la la la,
La la la la la,
Sail with me
**
So blame it everything I do on my ADD and you will probably be right. And that’s not only ok, it’s exactly the way it’s meant to be.
So let’s go with it shall we?
This video has been driving me crazy! Like I randomly saw it on VH1 on a Sunday morning or something and now ti consumes my thoughts. It’s cock fighting with stuffed animals and the care bear wins. WTF!!!!!!!
Why will the Bucks always suck under Herb Kohl. The G.M. came out after the draft and said he job was to develop talent AND make the playoffs. THAT DOESNT’ EVEN MAKE SENSE! TAKE LEMONS AND MAKE ORANGE JUICE! This is called in business lack of mission. What is the Bucks mission? Yep, I have no clue either. Stuck in suckity!
Speaking of sucking bad the Brew Crew (bandwagon is empty, Wisconsin loves the Brewers when they win only. Can we just all admit we are just Packer fans and the rest just fills the gaps?) are on pace to lose 100 games. Historically bad. Only the 2002 team that lost 106 broke the 100 game barrier.
Drove through Oshkosh during Country USA. I swear you actually feel the energy. I am 20 years too old for that stuff…and not really my thing, but you got to love it. Here was my one second summary of the event by a Kwik Trip in Oshvegas.
Male fathers in Wisconsin in the summer are clueless. They are lacking clues. I am talking fashion in the weakest sense of the word. In the fall and winter guys do fine. Fall we can wear camo and jeans, winter we have layers, all is well. Summer? We die in the fashion sense. Camo hats. Jorts. Funny t-shirts we have had for 25 years. Socks that don’t really do anything. Crappy tennies or crappier flip flops. Our horrible bodies don’t quite fit into anything. We wear a sports hat. That’s how we roll. I swear we don’t even think. Grab the top pant, the convenient shirt, the shorts that are close and the hat that is on the shelf. Summer outfit complete. Just take a minute to put a little plan together. That’s all it takes. And if you are close to 40 and have clothing from college, it’s time to go. Just think before you dress. Thanks.
oh wow.
I totally lost track of the Bachelorette this season. What is wrong with me? Not sure.
I thought I had more stuff, but that’s it. post over. blame it on the a.d.d.
– – Joel Fleischman. Joel is the president and solution provider for Drexel Building Supply. (drexelteam.com). You can follow him on twitter: @JoelmFleischman. He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.
Robin Yount, Bud Selig, Tiffany Ogle (a fan favorite), or the majority owner of the chinooks. Ok, Tiff looks great, the rest are really odd balls. Woah! Yount, wtf, dude, find a barber! Selig, holy crap, now I know why the replay in baseball is so bizarre. And I got 20 bucks the owner of the chinooks cant get too close to schools.
Are you doing it the normal way…? Did the normal guy on the Bachelorette get a rose last night? No, they did not. Did the idiot with his shirt off (I believe now called ab guy) get a rose? Yes he did.
So, do you have the following problems?
Boring e-mail signature?
Standard away message?
Voicemail that is factory installed?
Yeah, and you are wondering why you are “just a number”, “quoting and hoping”, and “stuck in medicorcy”.
Captain obvious here: To be DIFFERENT you have to be DIFFERENT.
***
Take risks, but be yourself. It’s actually pretty simple, but yet rarely applied. We are too scared, busy or simply not passionate enough to be ourselves. We are scared and over (or under) think every opportunity to SHINE.
A great example happened to my wife over the weekend. She bought shoes at zappos.com. That is certainly not news, in fact it seems like a daily phenomenon. But…Shoes… online? Barely even makes sense. Yet they are a dominant player in a huge market.
Zappos… 75% of it’s customers are repeat customers, their marketing is largely word of mouth. They started in 1999, and sold in 10 years for 1.2 billion dollars to Amazon. That’s a “B” people. They do over 1 billion in annual revenue. That’s a ton of shoes.
***
So… yeah that’s not normal. BUT IT IS AWESOME!
* and I apologize for the Taylor Swift quote. I know I can do better, but it just worked.
– – Joel Fleischman. Joel is the president and solution provider for Drexel Building Supply. (drexelteam.com). You can follow him on twitter: @JoelmFleischman. He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.
All the new growth, the new life in our fields and forests, it’s a great reminder of God’s plan for all of life. The circle of new beginnings.
But Spring also shows us the not so obvious.
Youth baseball is being played all around the country as we speak. The children, our future, our simbas, all have grown a year older, stronger, quicker, and smarter.
Last night I saw a little of the circle of life. My 10 year old godson who I am blessed to coach hit a grand slam his 2nd time up. I believe it was his first home run ever. The joy in his eyes… it’s a moment I will never forget. My own 9 year old son, who last year had two hits the entire year, he an actual rocket launched liner to the outfield last night. When he got back to the dugout he was so intensely proud of what he accomplished. Another circle of life moment.
Spring is the time we witness the circle of life in many businesses too… if we are looking for it, including where I work Drexel Building Supply. We have some great young talent that is the future of our company. Just out of high school or college, these individuals arrive to us not much different then a new born baby; they are a blank slate that we have a chance to write on. They will be the ones that will lead and inspire and use our core values to take our company to next heights. These people will be the ones that deal with our customers long after I am gone. They are our Simbas. They will make mistakes, but that is all part of it. We will lead and guide them like Rafiki and Mustafa in the Lion King. Both with class and as a mentor and friend. We will show them that is all part of what we do. And then it will be up to them. But it is up to us to make sure we have given them the kingdom and all the knowledge we have to share.
The circle of life. A powerful force.
Ecclesiastes 9:4-12
4 But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun.
7 Go, eat your bread with joy, And drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted your works. 8 Let your garments always be white, And let your head lack no oil.
9 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.
11 I returned and saw under the sun that—
The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, Like birds caught in a snare, So the sons of men are snared in an evil time, When it falls suddenly upon them.
– – Joel Fleischman. Joel is the president and solution provider for Drexel Building Supply. (drexelteam.com). You can follow him on twitter: @JoelmFleischman. He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.
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